Not Plagiarism

Yet another author is clamoring out of the shadows intent on reaping some of Stephenie Meyer's substantial profits, this time bytwirling plagiarism noisemakers.

Plagiarism is -- and should be -- taken seriously in the publishing industry. Remember the Opal Mehta fiasco in 2006? Harvard student Kaavya Viswanathan was labeled a phenom when her young adult debut, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life sold in a mid-six-figure deal to Little, Brown. Not long after the book's sale, the Harvard Crimson divulged the book's striking similarities with Megan McCafferty's novels Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings. Readers found further resemblances to Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries, Tanuja Desai Hidier's Born Confused, and Sophie Kinsella's Can You Keep a Secret?

The book deal was yanked, with all copies of Opal Mehta recalled. As for the young author, she claimed she must have "internalized" McCafferty's words, and called it a "completely unintentional mistake". Which is something, as authors, we're all a little terrified of doing. However, upon scanning the passages at Wikipedia, her internalization claims are pretty hard to believe.

I found the whole thing fascinating. And upsetting, of course. But fascinating.

Now, a woman named Jordan Scott has sent a cease and desist letter to Stephenie Meyer, asserting claiming the fourth Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, contains a "striking and substantial similarity" to Scott's book, The Nocturne. Apparently, The Nocturne was published in 2006, two years before Breaking Dawn. Portions had been available on the internet before then -- right in grasp of S. Meyer's searching hands!

Anyway, TMZ has posted the cease and desist letter (crammed with spoilers, just so you know) ... and it's actually pretty humorous, especially when you compare the case to the Opal Maheta fiasco. They both describe flowers at a wedding -- OMGZ PLAGIARISM! etc.

An example: the letter compares J.Scott's line, "'Until my last breath,' I said. 'Forever.'" to S.Meyer's "'Forever,' he agreed, then pulled us into deeper water."

So similar! Now that this author has pointed it out, I'm seeing plagiarism everywhere.

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comments:

Wow, I really think this person is just in it for the publicity because on comparison of the passages, they are no where near being the same!!! I can't believe it. It really does make one not want to write anything without scouring the internet and the library first!

Just a little um, ridiculous. In the first case you mentioned with How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, the plagiarism is so obvious. With S. Meyer, it's nothing more than a very small similarity in storyline (vampire/human marriage and child). A little ridiculous to me.